Market sees modest, steady gains

Construction rose sharply after a jump in new-home sales, and Best Buy’s online business was electric.

Stocks on Tuesday posted modest gains, bringing indexes nearly back to the record levels they reached last week. Homebuilders rose sharply after a big jump in sales of new homes last month, and Best Buy soared after the electronics retailer reported a surge in profit as online sales increased.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 17.88 points, or 0.1 percent, to 18,547.30. The Standard & Poor’s 500 index rose 4.26 points, or 0.2 percent, to 2,186.90. The Nasdaq composite rose 15.47 points, or 0.3 percent, to 5,260.08.

It was another quiet day in trading on Wall Street. Volume on the New York Stock Exchange was again below 3 billion shares, marking one of the slowest days of the year. Monday was the slowest day so far in 2016. Investors have had little in the way of economic data or company news to react to for the last couple of weeks, and many traders are on vacation in the ending days of summer.

This week’s biggest event comes Friday, when Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is due to speak at an annual conference of central bankers in Jackson, Wyo. The Fed is not expected to raise interest rates at its September meeting, but Yellen’s comments will be dissected for clues on the likelihood and timing of a future hike.

Stocks also benefited from news that Americans stepped up their purchases of new homes in July at the fastest pace in nearly nine years. Luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers rose nearly 9 percent, while PulteGroup and Lennar rose roughly 3 percent each.

In individual companies, Best Buy jumped $6.43, or 20 percent, to $39.23 after the retailer reported results that beat analysts’ estimates. Notably, Best Buy said sales in stores open at least a year rose in the latest quarter, a sign that the company’s turnaround strategy is working in the face of strong competition from Amazon and other online retailers.

U.S. government bond prices were little changed. The yield on the benchmark 10year Treasury note held steady at 1.55 percent. The dollar slipped to 100.22 yen from 100.29 yen late Monday. The euro fell to $1.1305 from $1.1323.

Crude oil closed up 69 cents to $48.10 a barrel while Brent crude, used to price oil internationally, rose 80 cents to $49.96.